THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
Photograph by James C. Wilson
"FUZZY-WUZZY" HAS A "COVERED WAGON"
Tribesmen of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan load their wives, babies, and
chattels atop their camels. The man is a member of the Hadendoa, one
of the three tribes to which the Fuzzies belong.
tain tribes of the central Sudan. It is said
that some tribes possess suits taken from the
Crusaders and carried south across the Sa
hara in the channels of commerce and war
fare, but most of those in use to-day, I
think, are made in the mills of Birmingham.
It was pleasant to be feted as celebrities
24 hours a day, but we were still a long
way from the Red Sea. On the fourth of
January we dispatched
two camels in the di
rection of N'Guigmi
and Lake Chad with
our excess baggage,
tires, spare parts, and
reserve supply of gas
and oil, and the next
morning took off our
selves, amid much
beating of tom-toms
and sounding of praises
by all and sundry.
Ever since leaving
Zinder (page 58) our
route had lain just in
side the southern fringe
of the Sahara. Now,
however, the trail
veered off to the south
and dropped into the
broad, flat valley of
the Komaduga (a word
meaning
"river")
Yobe, the largest west
ern affluent of Lake
Chad. It was muddy
and swollen from the
heavy rains farther
south.
Long arms and bay
ous backed up across
the land and over the
trail, and huge shaggy
trees, draped with
hanging moss, rose out
of the depths and
dropped their reflec
tions into the still,
brown water. The
river was often hun
dreds of yards wide.
In bygone ages this
had all been part of the
floor of Lake Chad.
The country was a
paradise for game.
Stately cranes and
marabou storks stood in the shallows and
scooped up fish with their bills. Flocks of
blue herons flapped out of the trees and
sailed away toward the sunset, and at
tending these feathered royalties were the
smaller varieties in squads and battalions.
Out on the valley floor I saw inhabitants
of a different kind: a snarling jackal and
three big vultures, tearing at something